1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a personal protective device for repelling predators and more particularly pertains to driving away predators in an area with a sound generation device.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Swimmers, scuba divers, hikers, hunters, and campers sometimes find themselves in an environment containing land or marine animals that are known to prey on humans. Although noisemaking on land is often sufficient to repel some land predators, the splashing and movement of waterborne activity tends to attract some marine predators, such as sharks.
Attempts have been made in the past to use acoustic devices to attempt to control land and marine animals. Generally, the devices heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of repelling land and marine animals have consisted of fixed or ship-mounted devices for generating sound or vibration using a variety of mechanisms, such sound or vibration being intended to repel or control the behavior of such land or marine animals, including the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,889, issued to Stanley Barrand, discloses an apparatus for repelling sharks by vibrating a line at specified frequency that generates a sound to repel sharks.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,085, issued to Stanley Weinberg, discloses an ultrasonic sound generator for producing bursts of sound to eradicate vermin and pests from a desired space.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,322, issued to Michael T. Miller, discloses a barracuda-repelling sound generation device that generates and transmits sounds and light that are purportedly irritating to barracudas.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,876, issued to Robert K. Jeffers, discloses an acoustic deterrent system and method for repelling marine mammals from a region of water. High frequency (7-10 kHz) acoustic signals starting at a low level are gradually or incrementally increased to a level beyond the mammals' pain threshold.
Notably, the prior art devices have comprised rather complex constructions, often large in size making them unsuitable for use as a personal protection device that a user may individually carry and actuate as they see is necessary. Moreover, none of the above-noted references disclose an easily transportable, personal protective device that can be worn on a person to repel an animal that is a predator to humans, or that uses piezoelectric speaker technology and prerecorded sounds of predators to such animals to repel such animals away from human beings.